Twelve-year-old Casey Breese died in July 2011 while playing football with his friends on a recreation field used by Caersws Football Club in Powys

A football club has admitted breaching health and safety laws after a 12-year-old boy was killed by falling goal posts while he played football with his friends.

Soccer mad Casey Breese was playing in goal at the recreation field used by Caersws Football Club in Powys in July 2011 when he jumped for the ball and got tangled in the nets.

As he pulled free, the metal goal posts toppled and fell onto him.

His friends managed to lift the posts enough for him to crawl from underneath but he lost consciousness and despite the efforts of the emergency services, he was declared dead that afternoon.

Mold Crown Court heard how the goal posts, made in the 1990s, were designed to be anchored to the ground with six metal plugs.

But the plugs were locked away in a shed and tests showed that the posts were liable to topple over even if someone bumped into them or leaned onto them, the court heard.

The club had denied a health and safety charge and was due to go on trial today but changed its plea to guilty.

The court heard how Powys County Council decided not to seek prosecution costs because any financial penalty could put the club out of business.

The club was given a 12 month conditional discharge. Judge Niclas Parry said he took what was an “exceptional course” after he was told that any significant fine would put the club, which was established in 1870 and three time winners of the Welsh Premier League, out of business.

In a statement, Casey’s parents Shan and Nick Breese, whose 18-year-old daughter Kelly Marie died in a car crash two years after Casey’s death, said they were pleased with the day’s events in court.

They said in they believed the club’s change of plea showed an acceptance of their involvement with the goalposts that fell on Casey and they were happy with the outcome.

The statement said losing Casey had been a “terrible blow” for the whole family and that today’s outcome would hopefully allow them to try and move on.

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